Homemade cranberry and pomegranate juices

Both these drinks are easy to make and so good for you! Full of Vitamin C and antioxidants as well as good old-fashioned natural energizers.

Cranberry juice drink

Last time I made this I mixed the cranberries with some red currants, which was very tasty. It’s also good to add raspberries when they are in season.

Step 1: Wash the berries very thoroughly.

Step 2: Immerse them in water, enough to fit into a liter bottle (or more depending on how much you’re making).

Step 3:  Bring to boil, listen to the cranberries ‘popping’, then add sugar (or honey) or other berries or spices, to taste. I added a little sugar and fresh orange juice together with the red currants, for example.

Step 4:  Boil for 5-10 minutes, depending on how much of the ingredients you have accumulated. Reduce to simmer.

Step 5: Remove from heat and while still warm, press the berries with a wooden spoon to get the last bits of all their goodness into the juice.

Step 6: Strain carefully. Here some people may advise you to boil the liquid again. This depends really on how long you plan to keep the juice and whether there are any initial flavors (‘it’s too sour!’ or something like that) that need correcting.

Step 7: Cool for a few hours and – enjoy.

Pomegranate fresh-squeezed juice

This is very easy – using the steps detailed in the our post on ‘ingredient of the month’ below, separate the seeds from the fruit and press them through a sieve. Best not to add anything to it, but  if you want, you can also add some raspberries to the mix before you press the juice.

If you’re a more expert pomegranate consumer, you can also use a kitchen mallet to ‘knock’ on the fruit (all round) while it is still whole (make sure it has a fine and solid shell!) until you feel it filling up with juice. At that point, carefully (!) cut an opening in it with a sharp, thin knife and pour out the juice. I can’t in all honesty say that I have ever succeeded in doing this in any kind of neat way. As Aleksandr Gesis writes about borscht, ‘If your kitchen looks like you slaughtered a pig, you probably did something right.’ I’d say this holds for the mallet-pomegranate session too. Just kidding!

This one will really get your iron and energy  levels up and running.